West Bromwich school’s 3G football pitch approved
A new artificial floodlit pitch will be built at a West Bromwich school after receiving the backing of planners.
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Sandwell Council has approved plans to build the 3G synthetic pitch at the Phoenix Collegiate in Clarkes Lane, West Bromwich.
The new pitch, which will be built on the school’s existing fields, is part of a move to replace playing fields in Wednesbury that are being used for more than 100 new homes.
A statement included with the application said the new floodlit pitch would “facilitate an enhanced curriculum for the school” and provide a facility for sport during bad weather when surfaces are “unplayable or worse, dangerous.”
“There are no similar facilities within the local area, and this development would provide a space for the community to engage in sport year-round,” a statement included with the application said.
“The 3G pitch will provide a valued training facility improving the team sports experience; used for educational, club and community football training and matches during the week and weekends; all within reasonable times of use.”
The school received planning permission from Sandwell Council in 2023 for a new two-storey building with eight new classrooms, a gym and shower and changing rooms.
Sport England, the government body responsible for protecting playing fields, had initially objected to the latest application saying the new pitch and facilities, and new trees, would need to be located to ensure they did not disrupt the school’s existing football pitches or cricket field. The body went on to remove its objection after the plans were redrawn.
Sandwell Council approved an application by major housing developer Persimmon to build 105 homes on playing fields off Friar Park Road in Wednesbury last October.
The council had given the developer permission to build just over 80 homes on the playing fields four years earlier.
The government body Sport England had criticised the application over potential ‘broken promises’ to build replacement playing fields and improve existing facilities in its 2020 application.
The plans were revised several times before an agreement over the estate’s section 106 agreement – a legal document between the developer and a council with stipulations that can include money for roads, schools, healthcare and town centre improvements, or in this case, new playing fields – was agreed last year.
As part of the deal, two new sports pitches – as well as changing rooms and similar facilities for local clubs – would be installed at the Phoenix Collegiate.
The agreement between the council and Persimmon states the facilities must be offered at an “affordable” rate and outside of school hours.
As part of the deal to build 84 homes on the playing fields in 2020, Persimmon agreed to stump up £300,000 to put towards improving the facilities at the Hydes Road playing fields – just over a mile away – which Sandwell Council had singled out as a “key priority site” for sports.
The money was supposed to ensure the pitches at the Phoenix Collegiate were also brought up to a ‘good’ standard for community use.
The Football Foundation, which channels government, FA and Premier League money into grassroots football, said the promised pitches had been provided but were branded “poor quality” after an inspection.
When the bigger housing plan was revealed, Sport England said it was worried that Persimmon was claiming there might be “viability issues” with the move and the £300,000 it promised for new playing fields could be spent elsewhere.
Sport England said it was unwilling to support the homes plan unless Persimmon agreed to spend at least £300,000 as stipulated in the previous deal.
Persimmon said better pitches had already been built at the Phoenix Collegiate site in West Bromwich, which was formed in 2010 after the merging of Menzies High School and Manor High School in Friar Park Road.
The school had operated from both sites before Manor High School closed in 2012 because of asbestos.
The site of the former Friar Park Road school has since been transformed into the High Point Academy, which opened in 2021.
